Telephonograph.



No. 999,209. Patented Oct. 3|, I899.

J. E. o. xumaane.

TELEPHONUGBAPH.

(Application filed Aug. 14, 1899.)

4 Shaets8heet I,

(No Model.)

N 0.636,209. Patented Oct. 3|, I899. J. E. U. KUMBERG.

TELEPHUNOGRAPH.

' (Application filed Aug. 14, 1899.) M 4 Sheets-Sheet 2,

IE 2 f v m: NORRIS PETER! co. woroumu. wasnma'rom o. c

(Application filed Aug. 14, 1899.) N o M o d e l Patented Oct. 3|, I899.

4 Shoets8heet 3.

Patented Oct. 3|, I899.

4 Sheeis-Sheet 4,

J. E. 0. KUMBERG. TELEPHONOGBAPH. (Appligation filed Aug. 14, 1899.)

' (No Model.)

. .1 kgmz A. m y/gk UNITED STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

JULES ERNEST OTHON KUMBERG, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

TELEPHONOGRAPH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,209, dated October31, 1899.

Application filed August 14, 1899. erial No. 727,238- (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULEs ERNEST OTHON KUMBERG, French civil engineer, acitizen of the Republic of France, residing at 321 Milkwood road, HerneHill, London, in the county of Surrey, England, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in or Connected with Telephones, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings and to the letters marked thereon.

The object of the invention is to obtain an instrument which will recordtelephonic conversations or other sounds both at the transmitting andreceiving stations and which will repeat to a person at a distantstation short messages thus recorded; and the invention comprises thepeculiar combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly insection, representing an instrument constructed according to the presentinvention and showing the cutting-point of the recording instrument inengagement with the long phonogram blank orcylinder and the stylus ofthe reproducing instrument out of engagement with the short cylinder.Fig. 2 is a plan of part thereof. Fig. 3 is a detail view of part ofFig. 1. Fig. 4 represents part of Fig. 3, but showing the stylus of thereproducing-diaphragm in engagement with the short phonogram orcylinder. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the reproducer separately. Fig.6 is a plan thereof.

Fig. '7 is a vertical section of the recording instrument separately.Fig. 8 is a front elevation of part of the instrument, illustrating moreparticularly the means for throwing the recording-stylus out of actionand also the divided scale and pointer; and Fig. 9 represents part ofFig. 8, showing the operative parts in their opposite position.

In the several figures, in which like parts are indicated by similarletters of reference, Figs. 5 to 7 are drawn to an increased scale withrespect to the other figures of the drawings.

(1 represents the base-plate and frame of the instrument.

17 represents the transmitter, which may be of any well-known andhighly-sensitive type.

0 represents the ordinary receiver.

cl represents the upper cell of the recording instrument, and erepresents the lower cell thereof, which cells are coupled by a tube d,and the cell e, which contains the recordingdiaphragm proper, is carriedin a holder mounted with capability of slightly turning upon the tube clfor the purpose hereinafter described, and f represents the cell of themessage-reproducing diaphragm.

The recording instrument d e is carried by a curved arm 9, which ispivotally mounted with capability of laterally sliding upon a guide-barg, at its ends carried in brackets a from the base-plate a, and the armg near to its pivotal point is furnished with a springoffset 9 at itslower end carrying a half-nut g which engages the ordinary feed-screwh,which is coupled with and driven by the usual electromotor (not shown)in the manner well known, by which means the recording instrument d c istraversed longitudinally of the phonogram-blank 0c, placed upon themandrel t', which is assumed to be mounted and driven in the mannercustomaryin phonographic instruments. The arm g is hollow and hasmounted therein the usual magnets, which, however, must be of a powerfulcharacter, and connections necessary toactuate the diaphragm d in theupper cell 01 of the recording instrument, and said arm near to itspivotal point is provided with terminals g, to which are coupled theline-wires, which, however, are not shown. The free end of the arm g issteadied by means of a saddle j, which is carried by a collar 7' mountedon the cell c of the recording instrument, and this saddle rests upon aguide-bar It, which at its ends is flattened and provided with verticalslots which receive studs Z, carried by posts Z, fixed with thebase-plate a, and the guide-bar it is loosely carried in curved seats orrests 10 provided at the upper partof a plate-like bar M, which iscarried by links It, at their upper ends pivotally connected to the bar70 and at their lower ends pivotally carried by lugs a from thebase-plate a.

Transversely of the bar 10 and at one end mounted at a in that partof'the frame a carryingthe scale-bar a and at the other end mounted in alug a from the base-plate a is a short shaft 70, upon which is fixedbeneath the bar 10 a cam 70, formed with a nose or point thereon, whilethe front end of the shaft k is furnished with a crank-handle 70 bymeans of which the shaft 7t may be rotated, so that by turning saidshaft 70 a quarter-revolution the cam It will raise the bar 70 andconsequently the recording instrument, and at the same time disengagethe nut g from the feed-screw 71 thus throwing the recording instrumentout of action, and the parts will thus be retained by the nose k of thecam it until the shaft 7t is rotated in the opposite direction either byhand or by the electric device hereinafter described.

The mouthpiece b of the transmitter I) is provided with two channels, asit were, for the sound-waves-that is to say,.the soundwaves produced byspeaking into the mouthpiece 12 travel directly through a tube, channel,or conduit 1) to the recording-diaphragm c of the cell c of therecording instrument at the transmittingstation and cause thecutting-tool e of the lever e, actuated by the diaphragm, to record theconversation upon the phonogram-blank (U, carried by the mandrel i, andat the same time these sound-waves are electrically conveyed over thelinewire 11" to a similar instrument, which for the time being is thereceiving instrument, at the distant station and pass by the terminals gof the arm g through the electromagnets of the diaphragm-disk of thecell d of the distant recording instrument, which, as hereinafterdescribed, is or may be coupled with the diaphragm-disk of the cell 6,so that the soundwaves are similarly recorded at the distant stationupon a phonogram-blank, such as 00, while at the same time theconversation can be heard through the receiver 0 of the distantinstrument, which is electrically connected with the recordinginstrument.

The lever e of the recordinginstrurnent d e is provided with two points,(see Figs. 1 and 7,) one, 6 a cutting instrument for recording on thephonogram-blank 0c and the other, a a blunt stylus for following thegroove or incision formed by the cutting instrument, and the cell c ofthe recording instrument is mounted with capability of turning upon thetube d, so that said cell may be slightly rotated to throw thecuttingtool out of action and the blunt stylus into action, or viceversa,

z xin the well-known manner described in Letters Patent of Thomas A.Edison, No. 465,972, dated December 29, 1891, and thus the conversationmay be reproduced by the instrument at either the transmitting ordistant receiving station at will, and to enable said reproduction to beheard a listening-tube d* is connected with the tube (1 of the recordinginstrument d e.

The tubes b and (1* may be run together and have a common connectionwith the recording instrument.

The recording instrument is of special constructionthat is to say, it isprovided with two compartments (Z e, the upper one (1 of which is anelectrical telephone-receiver and the lower one 6 of which is providedwith a sensitive disk of glass e or other suitable substance whichreceives the undulations produced by the natural sound-waves by way ofthe channel 11 or sound-waves produced electrically through theelectromagnets within the arm g,acting on the diaphragm (Z andcommunicates them to the lever e, carrying the recording-stylus c orother suitable tool underneath. Below the diaphragm c of glass, isprovided an apertured cover or guard 6 The diaphragm-cell 6 (see Fig. 7)is also provided with an apertured floating weight e, on which ispivotally mounted upon a stud 2 the lever e, which carries the recordingand reproducing tools c a and this floating weight 6 is mounted upon aloose hinge c to admit of the reproducing-stylus a readily following thechannel or groove of the phonogram. Floating weights have beenpreviously employed in a similar manner in phonograph apparatus, theobject thereof being to enable the reproducing and cutting toolsemployed in said instruments to override any irregularities in thesurface of the cylinder, the material of which the latter is made beingliable to expansion and contraction; but it has been found by experimentthat the revolving motion of the cylinder over which the stylus travelscauses the floating weight to jump or rebound, and this obviouslyprevents the acting tool from properly fulfilling its function. In orderto obviate this defect, the floating weight a is, according to thepresent invention, made adjustable to said inequalities by means of aspring 0 which at one end bears upon the floating weight e and at theother end acts against a disk e fixed with a regulating-screw c screwingthrough a nut a, so that the force exerted by the spring upon thefloating weight a may be regulated at will, and in order to limit themaximum downward movement of the floating weight a a stop a" isprovided, consisting of a headed stud fixed with the frame a and passingthrough an aperture in the weight a. By the aid of the device lastlyhereinbefore described the jumping action of the floating weight ismodified or prevented, and the spring 6 while permitting the necessaryup-and-down movement of the recording-stylus e to adjustably follow theinequalities of the surface of the phonogram-blank, at the same timeincreases the impulses of the vibrations created by the sound-wavesandcauses the same to make a deeper cut or incision than heretofore, withthe result that when reproduced the sounds are also increased, while thereproducing-stylus e is similarly caused to more closely and adjustablyfollow the groove of the phonogram.

The recording instrument d eis, as hereinbefore described, provided witha separate channel I) for receiving the non-electrical sound-waves whichare to act upon the diaphragm e of the recording instrument d 6- that isto say, that part of the sounds which has to be recorded at thetransmitting-station directly without the aid of the transmitter 19 andconcurrently with its electrical conveyance by the line-wire 19* to theterminals g of the receiving apparatus at the distant station, where itpasses through the arm 9 and recording instrument d e and is similarlyrecorded, as hereinbefore described.

The recording part of the instrument can, as hereinbefore explained, heput out of action when desired by simply turning the handle 10 thusraising the recording instrument (1 e and throwing the feed mechanism 9h out of gear, when the telephonic transmitter b b and receiver 0 may beused as an ordinary telephone.

Thescale-bar carried by part of the frame a is provided with a dividedand numbered scale a", as shown more particularly at Fig. 8, over whichwhen the instrument is in operation travels an index or pointer jcarried by the saddle j, resting upon the slide-bar k, and also looselymounted upon the slide-bar k is an indicator or marker I0 and the objectof this arrangement is to record by the stationary indicator theposition at which the conversation commenced and by the traveling handor pointerj the position at which it terminated, and the operator isthus enabled to make a note in a register of these particulars, by whichmeans he can at any future time at once select any particular messagefor reproduction by the instrument.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the conversation may beconveyed to one or more telephone-receivers at a distance concurrentlywith the recording of the conversation at the transmitting-station andthat the conversation recorded upon the phonogram-cylinder 00, ashereinbefore described, can be reproduced afterward as many times asdesired by bringing into the track of the record the reproducing-stylusc of the reproducer at e.

For the reproduction of short messages'a separate reproducer ispreferably employed, and for that purpose the reproducer f, which isseparately represented at Figs. 5 and 6 and is substantially the same asthe lower part of the recording instrument hereinbefore described andthe details of which are therefore unlettered, is supported in a holderf, which is formed With an offset f which is received between andpivotally mounted in the limbs of the fork f of alever f which ismounted upon a vertical axis f carried by a bracket 0, from the frame a,and this lever is on one side acted upon by a spring 1, which moves itin one direction, while a cam f rotated at the times desired in themanner hereinafter described, moves itin the opposite direction, andthus the diaphragm f is traversed over the short phonogram-cylinder 0c,hereinafter more particularly referred to. The phonogram upon the shortcylinder 00' is produced by placing it upon the mandrel t' in positionbeneath the instrument at e, bringing the stylus e? into action,switching on the motor, and speaking at the mouthpiece b, and it is thenshifted along the mandrel into the position indicated by the dottedlines at in Fig. 2 in readiness for use. The sound-box f is adapted tobe turned upon its pivotal point at f to raise it out of action, asindicated at Fig. 1, or to be lowered onto the phonogram 00 when it isdesired to reproduce a message, and in order to raise and hold it out ofaction when desired a lever or detent m, formed with a rounded nose orcam, Fig. 3, is employed, which is mounted upon an axis m, said leverbeing actuated by a rod m provided with a handle m The short messagereproduced by the diaphragm f from the phonogram 00 passes by the tubef* to the telephone-transmitter b,which is intended to present a facerearward to the tube b* as well as a face forward to the mouthpiece b,whence it passes over the line-wire 5* to the receiving instrument atthe distant station.

In order to give the required rotary motion to the cam f said cam isfixed upon the upper end of a shaft f, Fig. 3, mounted with capabilityof revolving in a bearing f in the bracket of, while atits lower end itis mounted in a bearingf in the base-plate a, and this shaft has alsofixed thereon a beveled wheel f, which gears Wit-h a corresponding wheelf fixed upon one end of a short shaft f mounted in a boss or hearing a,formed on the frame a, while at its other end it has fixed thereon aband wheel or pulley f, which by a bandf is coupled with the pulley uponthe shaft of the electromotor which gives motion to-the mandreli andfeed mechanism and which is notshown, inasmuch as it is well known topersons acquainted with phonographic instruments. The soundbox f thusreceives a traverse to and fro over the short phonogram 00, and in orderthat after traversing said phonogram from its initial point to thetermination of the phonogram its stylus may not in its return motionagain traverse the same a segmental cam f" is fixed upon the shaft f andis or must be so arranged and timed that in the revolution of the shaftf it will act against the under faces of curved offsets f 3 from theholder f and lift the sound-box f'upon its hingef and thus hold itduringits return traverse to its starting-point, when said cam willallow the sound-box to descend, with its reproducing-stylus again inengagement with the phonogram 0a. In the event of the electric circuitbeing broken, for example, at the exchange by ringing off after thedelivery of the message and at the termination of the outer traverse ofthe sound-box at the distant sta-.

tion and before the sound-box has returned to its zero-point, the nextringing-up and completion of the circuit will cause the soundbox toreturn to zero and again reproduce the message, and so on.

In order to enable the recording instrument d e at the distant stationto be brought into action, assuming it to have been thrown out of actionby turning the handle and raising the slide-bar 7c and disengaging thefeed mechanism 9 h, as hereinbefore described, the following simpledevice is employed, which is represented at Figs. 8 and 9: Upon theshaft 7c, in addition to the cam 7.2 formed with the nose or point k isa disk 70 provided with a notch k, and in connection therewith isemployed a hook or, mounted upon an axis of motion 11', carried by thearmature n of an electromagnet a and which is kept up to its work by aspring n and the tooth of the hook in the acting position'of the nose 70of the cam Yr -that is, when the slidebar 7c is raised-engages the notch70 of the disk It \Vhen magnet 71 is sufficientlyenergized, it startsrotation of the disk 70 till nose It" is thrown beyond its center ofsupport, when the parts will assume the position shown in Fig. 8 underthe weight of the carriage-bar k The electromagnet nis placed in theordinary telephone-circuit, but is so formed or arranged that theordinary current is not sufiicient to actuate it in the manner desired,but at each station is provided a supplemental battery or other sourceof additional electricity, which is adapted to be brought into theordinary circuit by the pressing of a button, by which means theelectromagnet 91 will be caused to attract the armature 91 and the hookat will rotate the disk 70 and shaft 70 snfliciently to dislodge thenose k of the cam 7.; from the bar 7.3 thereby permitting the instrument(1 e to descend into position for use.

It will be obvious that any other well-k nown electrical device may beemployed for effecting the above objec As a modification of this devicethe instrument d 6 may be automatically thrown into and out of action,for example, by the following means: The bar k and instrument d e may benormally held raised by a spring and the armature 01 connected to thebar 70 so that while the button at the distant station is depressed thearmature n will be attracted by the magnet it, which must be of apowerful character, and the instrument d e will be held in action, whileimmediately that said button is released the instrument will be raisedout of action by the spring. This arrangement of parts is so easilyunderstood that it is not thought necessary to illustrate the same.

By the means hereinbefore described a tele phonic message could berecorded without the presence of a person being necessary at thatinstrument for the time being the receiving instrumentin the followingmanner: After office hours or in the event of an ofiice having atelephonograph being left temporarily unattended ashort phonogram-cylinder, such as as, would previously be placed upon the mandrel 2',as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, said phonogram bearing therequired short message-such, for example, as the following:' Nobody in.Mr. Brown will be back at four oclock. Please press the button and Iwill take the message, and LIR'BI'OWH will ring you up when he arrives.The person (Mr. Brown) at the home station would then press in the knobm thus bringing the diaphragm f into action, after which he would befree to go out. The person at the distant station desiring tocommunicate with Mr. Brown would then ring up the exchange and theexchange would ring up Mr. Browns switch in Browns circuit, therebycompleting the circuit through Browns actuating-motor and starting theinstrument and causing the above message tobe conveyed, by the diaphragmf, conduit f*, and line-wire b*, to the distant station. The person atthe distant station finding that Mr. Brown was out and Wishing to leavea message with him would then press the button, which would have theefiect of bringing into action the electromagnet n and lowering theinstrument (Z 6 into position for use, as hereinbefore described, and hecould then send his message over the line-wire to the home station,where it would be recorded by the instrument d e upon the phonogramblanka:. He would then ring otf and exchange would cut out Browns circuit,thus arresting the actuating-motor, and the repeating diaphragm,with therepeating soundboxf,would in the next ringing up automatically return toits initial position and again traverse the phonogram :r and repeat toany subsequent caller at any other distant station the same answerpreviously mentioned. Upon Mr. Browns return to ofiiee he would see thatthe pointer ;j of the instrument d e had moved with relation to thescale a, and this circumstance would tell him that some one had left amessage with his machine while he had been out, and he could then byswitching on the motor and bringing into action the reproducing-point eof the instrument (I e and listening at the listening-tube (1* hear themessage reproduced.

It will be understood that the details of construction and arrangementof the various parts of the apparatus are capable of considerablemodification without departing from the principle of the invention. Forexam ple, the'sound-waves might be electrically conveyed from thetransmitter 19 to the recording instrument d 6; but this arrangement isconsidered inferior to that hereinbefore described.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is 1. A combined telephonic and phonographic instrumentcomprising phonographic and electrotelephonic diaphragms connectedtogether to cause either to be actuated by the other, sound-boxescontaining said diaphragms and connected together by a tube, amouthpiece provided with a telephonic transmitter anda sound-duct fromthe mouthpiece to the connecting-tube of the aforesaid soundboxes;substantially as and for the purposes mitter having a mouthpiece whichis also in communication with the duct communicating between thesound-boxes on the phonographcarriage; substantially as herein setforth.

3. In combination with a phonograph havin g a suitable carriage, andarecorder mou nted thereon, a telephonic receiver also mounted on saidcarriage and in communication with the recorder, a telephonictransmitter having a mouthpiece, which is in communication With both thereceiver and recorder on the carriage, and an additional phonographicinstrument mounted independently of the said carriage and communicatingwith the telephonic transmitter; substantially as and for the purposesset forth.

4. In an instrument of the character described, comprising a telephoneanda phonograph, an electricallyactuated means for throwing thephonograph into action, consisting of a rotating cam by which thephonograph-carriage is normally held out of action, an electromagnet andan armature therefor, and a hook connected with said armature andengaging said cam; substantially as set forth.

5. In a phonograph the combination of the guide-bar k, the posts Z, uponwhich said guide-bar is mounted by slot-and-pin connection, the bar issupporting said bar 70, the guide-links connecting bar k wit-h fixedpoints, and the lifting-cam 70; substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

6. In a phonograph the combination of the bar 70, the posts 1 upon whichsaid bar is mounted by slot-and-pin connection, the bar k supportingsaid bar it, the guide-links k connecting bar 10 with fixed points, thelifting-cam it a hook n, engaging said cam, and an electromagnetcontrolling said hook.

7. In a phonograph the combination with a stylus, of the floating weightsuitably pivoted at one end and providing at an intermediate point amounting for the stylus, a stop limiting the movement of the free end ofthe weight in one direction, a spring pressing said free end toward saidstop, and a set-screw applying pressure to the spring substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

8. In combination with a phonograph and a sound-box having movementperpendicular and parallel to the surface of the record, the rotatingsegment for raising the sound-box during its movement in one direction;substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

9. In combination with a phonograph-having a sound-box movable bothperpendicularly and parallel to the record, a rotating cam impartingsaid parallel movement in one direction, means for imparting saidparallel movement in the opposite direction, and arotating segmentelevating the sound-box during the movement by the cam; substantially asset forth.

10. In a phonograph the combination of a sound-box movableperpendicularly and parallel to the record, a spring imparting theparallel movement in one direction, a shaft bearing a cam which movesthe sound-box in opposition to the spring, and a lifting-segment alsocarried by said shaft, rotating with the cam and elevating the sound-boxduring the movement by the cam; substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

11. In a phonograph the combination with a sound-box movable to and fromthe record, the pivoted lever m engaging beneath the sound-box to holdit in elevated position, and the push-rod m connected at its end withthe lever, and movable longitudinally to control the position of saidlever relatively to the sound-box; substantially as set forth.

JULES ERNEST OTHON KUMBERG.

Witnesses:

O. MELBOURNE WHITE, THOMAS V. GRAFTON.

